March 21, 2008

UPDATE: That was a lively "Week in Review" show. Listen at the archive here. Lots on Obama and some good discussion at the end about the Iraq war and a laughable ad from the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

142 comments:

With the cost of a 50-pound sack of flour rising from $16 to close to $40 in a month, expect higher slice prices and embarrassed pizzaiolis.

"Over here people come to buy pizza, working people. How much [am] I going to raise the pizza now?" asks Vicari. "Somebody come in here for two slices, and I take $5. I feel very, very bad for the person."

Beer is for the common man. A more discerning person likes a finer alcohol. If you cannot stomach wine or a good brandy, might I suggest trying a little rum and coke?

When you show people the finer things in this life, they are enriched and happier. When you muck around with cheap and shoddy things, whether they be alcohol or cars or politicians, you come away looking like a hobo or a Democrat.

The best part about Good Friday when you were a kid was that it was a no meat day. We were poor so we never got to eat pizza, except on Good Friday or other no meat days. Mac and cheese or grilled cheese sandwichs for lunch and pizza for dinner. It doesn't get much better than that.

I was reading an article in VF about a new book coming out about Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and Carol King. They were way before my time and I don't know much about them. Each seemed to be a very different person than the other. All have lived very interesting lives and now are grandmothers.

Today is the first day of spring and it is snowing like hell here in Chicago. I was lucky and took the hound out before the snow started. Not to be trite, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas on this Good Friday.

Now, let's get down to important issues- so certain trolls stop complaining:

As to the alcohol controversy; Norman, stop being a snob. There are very fine beers, ales, porters, and stouts. To exclude them is to deny yourself real pleasure. Also, at one time, beer was actually considered a food as well as a beverage.

Titus, I love you man, but this blog would go to hell in a hand basket if all of us contiually discussed our bowel habits on a daily basis. BTW, are you really going to the ATLAH services in Harlem?

Ripic, your poetry never fails to amuse. Take a bow.

George, I'll bet old Vicari feels bad all the way to the bank.

Hopefully we can take a break from the hopelessly mundane and trite political nonsense this holiday weekend and enjoy the real important things in life.

Titus: Joni Mitchell. I never even bought one record by Carly Simon or Carole King. I certainly heard "Tapestry" played by others a thousand times, and it reminds me of my college days, so I have some feeling for that. Carly... I don't care about her.

This Brooke girl on American Idol gives off a real Carly Simon vibe, especially after she sang You're So Vain. My wife call her the Carly Simon girl which gets confusing since there is a girl named Carly in the competition. She has that lanky awkward style and the lips and the hair. But she has to put the sex out front like Carly did on her album covers that Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap used to spank the monkey over back in the day. Just sayn'.

Norman, stop being a snob. There are very fine beers, ales, porters, and stouts. To exclude them is to deny yourself real pleasure. Also, at one time, beer was actually considered a food as well as a beverage.

Snob? I'm a snob because I don't throw back a few cheap beers and eat meat out of a can?

Look, I'm sorry that you and your cohorts here want to poop and celebrate it publicly, but you could enrich your life by going to a fine coffeehouse or restaurant. Today, for lunch, I'm meeting some prospective clients at McCormick & Schmick's in Washington D.C. Anyone who has Atlantic Salmon rises to the top of my favorite's list just by default. Stop in and I'll personally buy you a glass of wine that won't make you upchuck.

Try to put on a nice shirt and some slacks. The last time, when you showed up in a Def Leppard t-shirt and sweatpants, well, it was a tad bit embarrassing, sir.

This is a victory for the little guy against a big, bad, Socialistic, overbearing government. Joe Vento has won his case against the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations! He is the owner of one of the city’s historic Philly Cheese Steak joints, the other being Pat’s King of Steaks.

He posted signs outside his restaurant stating WHEN ORDERING PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH. The Commission threatened to shut him down if he did not remove the signs. Put him out of business. Kaput. Steal his livelihood. Just because he has English Only signs? I guess some people thought it was nuts. In a 2-1 ruling, the Commission decided he did not violate the law. Mr. Vento threatened to take the city to court if he lost.

Philly, the home of the Declaration of Independence, is getting to be like our free speech hating neighbors to the north, Canada. Really, a Commission on Human Relations? It is wonderful how tax dollars can be wasted.

Let me tell ya what a common man like myself will do today. I have a pair of coveralls on, and a fire in the wood stove in the shop. When it gets warmer out there, I will get under my car, and take the extention exhaust pipe and muffler off. Replace it with new stuff. I won't mess around either, anything gives me trouble, I'll start up my torch and cut it off. Hopefully, I'll work up a thirst and drink some beer later. It's snowing here also, and people are driving by the farm slowly, so I don't think I'll be going anywhere today. New York strip steak for dinner. Since I have a Mr. Coffee machine, there is no need to go out to have coffee. So, there.

In contrast, I am a real snob. I pity the fool who does not relish the sweet nectar that is candied malted milk easter eggs. Or Peeps that are a few days old. If heaven lacks these, what is heaven for?

And for spring, these are almost as good as walking down a sidewalk at 6 a.m. and finding that small overhang of melting ice at the edge, cracking it off with every other step.

And Norman, don't diss SPAM. The US shipped an enormous amount of the Special Purpose Army Meat to the Russkies when they were our brief allies in WW2. The Soviets found it as valuable to them as gasoline and ammunition in their battle with the Germans. The mystery meat that beat Hitler can't be all bad!

"Inwardly strive to develop the capacity of mindfulness; outwardly spread the virtue of uncontentiousness. Shed the world of dust to seek emancipation."

I really am a regular guy. Born and raised in the midwest to very modest means. Yes, I may sound pretentious and self obsessed but really I am not. I am complex and multi dimensional I am always polite to others, am a good listener to friends and family, and try to enjoy my time here on the planet.

To show you what a snob I am, I occasionally toss a beer with a pizza store owner. Did you know that:

Adjusted for inflation, the price of a pizza has gone down over the last 15 years? The industry is so competitive and lowballed now, that the only way to break even is to 1) invent a new kind of pizza that only snobs will buy for a jacked-up price, 2) sell a whole lotta pizzas that are made as cheap as possible, or 3) sell them by the slice, as George said. He said it's not a fun business anymore. His employees, those that stick around more than a month, rarely see raises and pizza tippers are almost extinct.

Pogo, I am sucking on some malted milk ball easter eggs right now. Love that stuff.

Titus, floaters might be indicative of not enough of something in your diet. You need to check that out.

When we were kids going down Union St. to play stickball on Van Brunt we would pass the House of Pizza and Calzone and Joey Gallo would get us all a slice. It was 10 cents a slice at the time. (Of course Joey didn't pay, but it was the thought that counts).

They are kind of like euro guys. You look at a euro guy and think he has got to be gay. Look at the clothes, hair, etc but in fact they like pussy. It can be very confusing-let me tell you...okkkkkkkkk.

Russian male figure skaters very much the same way. Yes, they have an amazing flexibility which would indicate an interest in hog but most of them are married.

Now, as a common man and regular guy, I enjoy beer, wine, good Bourbon, Scotch, and the occasional Martini-Gin, not Vodka. Only snobs limit their pleasures and fail to appreciate all the finer things in life.

Like Trooper, I grew up somewhat poor. Canned tuna was the Lenten Friday lunch. BTW, Norman, there is nothing better than Italian canned tuna packed in olive oil.

I'm done. Used the Sawzall to cut the pipe from the muffler, removed the one bolt from the hanger bracket, and the two bolts from where the pipe joins the catalytic converter pipe. It went together very easy.

I watched the Badgers last night. One of their typical wins, not pretty, but a win nonetheless.

"I'm done. Used the Sawzall to cut the pipe from the muffler, removed the one bolt from the hanger bracket, and the two bolts from where the pipe joins the catalytic converter pipe. It went together very easy."

I have no idea what that entire paragraph means. It sounds kind of sexual to me but I don't think it is.

But my parents saved every penny and now they live a very comfortable life in retirement.

Same with my grandparents on both sides. They were both dairy farmers. Their homes were incredibly simple. They never bought anything new. They each died with over a million dollars in assets.

My parents don't buy anything new either. They live in the same house that I grew up in. They drive the same car forever. If they go golfing, out to dindin, anything is accompanied by a buy one get one free coupon. They have quite a bit of property and whenever they buy something they pay cash.

I am what you would call the exact opposite of them. I have a fabulous loft yes. Yes, I make good money. But I don't have any savings. If I see a pair of beautiful Prada shoes I have to have them. Same with all of the beauty regiments, vacations etc.

I wish I could be like my parents but I just live for now. They are still worried that they will lose everything.

I was mortified at first, and the entire family thought it was kind of funny, because they know me. It was fricking freezing out so I actually wore a snowmobile suit-can you imagine me with a snowmobile suit on?

Trooper, have you ever even seen a snowmobile suit?

A snowmobile suit is very Wisconsin.

Of course my sister videotaped it and show it to the family every chance she gets for a good laugh. I laugh too at it-they are not laughing at me-they are laughing with me-at least that is what I tell myself.

Yes actually. Back in my single days many years ago, we went on a ski weekend to meet girls and the place was full of snowmobile suits and ski's and ski boots and parkas and stuff like that. Plus lots of snow. Who needs that? I hung out at the bar and made a firm vow not to go anywhere I can't get to on the subway. Except for Vegas. Snowmobile suit, Jeeeez, sorry.

You may think to yourself, wow those two must not get along very well.

But you would be surprised. We get along great. I am his favorite child (as well as my mother's fav natch). My sisters drive him nuts they live 5 minutes away from him. He can't stand their husbands and likes that fact that I am so independent.

"Then there is canned caponata. Now I have tried to make it and I have had stuff made in restaurants. It is not the same. For some reason the stuff in the can is the very best."

Well the reason it is the best is because it is aged in the olive oil under compression. If you can it (jar it I mean in a tightly capped Mason jar) it will have that taste after six to eight months. My grandmother did that and I always helped her as well as when we made just regular pickeled eggplant in vinegar. Ohhh baby. That's Italian.

AllenS said... Did anybody else have the pleasure of eating C-rations?

Oh, the pleasure of ham and mother fu@#ers! Green eggs and ham. That mystery stuff they called spagetti and meat balls. That canned cake. You got a candy bar, TP, and cigs. That coffee was the best instant coffee in the world.

Once we got heat tablets, we used to make birthday cake with the canned cake, and the chocolate bar. Pizza with the canned white bread and canned cheese and whatever kind of meat (can't remember what we used). After a month of C's everyone was using Tobassco sauce. When the LRRP rations came out, it was like heaven.

Ann, I don't know how you do it. I find listening to Peg Lautenschlager banging on, making all kinds of generalizations, spreading them around like fertilizer, actually painful. I can not stand it. I don't think any of those things attributed so broadly to me and I strongly resent it. Listening to her speak, speeding up to cram it all in, is like a fork being jabbed in my ears. I'm convinced that's her intent. Blahblahblahblah JAB! Blahblahblahblah JAB! Blahblahblahblah JAB! Blahblahblahblah JAB! That's what it's like. She's so wrong she stinks up the place with wrongness, and frankly, I'm driven off.

MM: Good timing on her part, I gather, given the weather with which you all are being inflicted. I haven't check the forecast here, but so far, so good. The Mississippi here, while high (as it has been) is OK for now, but there's been flooding from another local river. We have friends who had to leave their house more than a week ago.

I think it could potentially be a little dicey in this area, if we (and folks north) experience a rainy spring.

Let's see you can't have an opinion on Wright if you haven't been to an African American Church but you can claim that the military is suffering the greatest phychological damage in history! because ummm you are a card carrying Obama supporter.

I'm sorry I listened to that. I'm once again made to feel ill at the thought of these people being my compatriots trying their persistent best at getting me to despise my elected president, and how cheaply and poorly they do it. Ineloquent. Yes. Yes. Yes. For the thousandth time, Yes! We get it; You. don't. care. for. the. way. Bush. speaks. Say it another thousand times and you'll just be a thousand times more annoying yourself. That does it. I'm no longer listening. They speak, the volume goes down to zero, the ears slam shut. They're just too predictable. And mean. And stupid. And this woman's a lawyer? Take a bow, Peg Lautenschlager, it's because of people like you I'll be unlikely to ever vote for a Democrat again. I simply cannot associate myself with partisans as mean and aggressively ignorant as you. Biggest bully in the playground -- good for the Goose, good for the gander -- Correct about mistake, and every other beaten to death trope that goes flying through that mean space between her ears that seems sufficiently damaging at the moment quickly enough to make room for the next well-beaten trope to come flying through attempting to fool the listener into thinking some new thought is being applied to an evolving situation. This absolutely does it. No more listening in order to protect my own psyche and risk losing IQ points for having listened and processed.

I'm glad Althouse interrupted Peggy.Peg had a tendency to drone on and keep talking long after her point had been made. And some of her points didn't make much sense.Such as:

1) Whites have to attend a black church service before they can criticize Wright for says things like uhh... "G*d D*mn" America"? I guess according to Peg, if we attended we'd understand that Black Preachers just say crazy stuff but don't mean it - y'know like MLK.

2) She quit a Christian church because the pastor quoted John 3:16 and her father had Jewish friends. I am still trying to figure that one out.

reader_iam said...Or Peeps that are a few days old. If heaven lacks these, what is heaven for?If heaven HAS these, please send me to hell.

NOOOOOOOO PEEEEEEEEPS!!!!!!!!!

(Certain readers around here may recall my abiding hatred peeps and my expression thereof elsewhere, and elsewhere, back in the day.)

* * * * *reader: Is this aborted peeps-related blog one of yours? Were you plooplusgirl? I seem to remember a little dustup between her and a certain well-regarded former commenter shortly before said commenter swept up his sawdust and left.

C'mon, you can tell us. Believe me, I will not think any the worse of you if you were on your way to a masked ball and decided to drop by to see if anyone would recognize you.

AlphaLiberal said..."I listened to it live here in Wisconsin. Again, Ann, you repeatedly interrupted the other guest mid-sentence. Peg did not interrupt you. I actually wanted to her what she was saying, too. You are arrogant and rude."

How dishonest!

1. Overtalking like that is not properly called interruption. It's normal conversation and not rude.

2. The "other guest" did it to me too, actually more than I did it to her. Funny you didn't notice.

3. You listened here in Wisconsin and yet you say "the other guest" and not Peg Lautenschlager? Are you sure you're in Wisconsin?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Does she mean this John 3:16, or does she have some other passage in mind? Her quote was garbled.

Her father had some very strange theological ideas, or, more likely, it was a handy excuse to exit from a religion in which he no longer believed. That's fine, but her take on it was particularly odd.

We have Jewish friends, too. Some of them even have come to our parish and heard that very passage. I imagine they don't agree with it, but, hey, it's not called Christianity for nothing.

Every religious tradition has a degree of exclusivity. Christianity had its origins in Judaism, and was a Jewish sect for a while, but there was a parting of ways. If Christ is who Christians believe He is, then, yes, those who don't believe in Him will not be saved. That doesn't mean that while we're on this Earth, we can't have perfectly decent relationships with everyone, regardless of faith.

If Peg Lautenschlager's father was uncomfortable with the theology of that particular conservative Lutheran pastor, there were plenty of other pastors and churches who no doubt would have emphasized different elements. If her father was sick of Christianity, well, that's his business. But his daughter using that as a point of attack on certain Christians all these years later is unfortunate, to say the least.

Theo: Nope. I inflict myself on you all only under this handle. (Except for once in a while when another, non-blogging related one creeps in, and then I try to catch and delete it and repost as reader_iam as soon as possible. Failing that--which is rare--Trooper notices and informs me that my undies are showing. He's got my backside, so to speak.)

Pogo: As long as you're furtive about this kink of yours, and don't post pictures of Peeps on your blog as a "Happy Birthday" gift to me, no problem. Some of my best blogfriends are Peeps fans (or at least Peeps agnostic), and I love them anyway. I feel sad for them and pray they will get past it, but I love them anyway.

reader: Well, that clears that up. I still am wondering who would "h8 peeps" so much and at the same time pick a fight with our old furniture making commenter.

This being Good Friday, I am trying to think only pure and somber thoughts, so I will leave the undies and "butt buddy" references alone until after Easter. Then we can celebrate the season in style.

Speaking of Easter, I want to say one more thing about Peg Lautenschlager's irritating swipe at at least one segment of Christianity.

What I heard was not someone who was saying, "We all have heard our pastors say dumb things, so the anti-Obama crowd should get over it." No, she had to slant the comment into a generic trendy leftish swipe at Christianity. It was more the tone of her own personal moral superiority than perhaps the words she said, but I was left in no doubt that she considered one of the bedrocks of the Christian religion, namely salvation through Jesus Christ, to be somehow lacking in her preferred value of inclusiveness.

Aaarghh!

Anyway, I am trying to think appropriately charitable and somber thoughts, so I will do my best not to dwell on either reader's panties or Peg Lautenschlager's stupidity.

Whoa, Maggie said "one of the best."*** Don't be laying the groundwork for justifying going off into Real Life just to take care of grooming, hygiene and other personal issues (TMI!!) in dereliction of your primary function. It's not people won't notice, you know.

***

Standard disclaimer: Do not take my observation as indicative of a position, lest you end up with your skirt flipped up over (or pants on top of) your projecting head.

- the Irish girls sent to reform school in Ireland where they were cruelly abused by the so-called Sisters of Mercy. Their male counterpart, the (Edmund Rice) Christian Brothers left a trail of child abuse almost as bad. Damages for their mistreatment of inmates in a Canadian industrial school in their care bankrupted the order in Canada.

- I hear McCormick & Schmick's is pretty nice, but I almost never eat in chain restaurants. I did enjoy HoJo's when I was little, however.

- I have never had to use either a torch or a Sawzall to pull off part of my exhaust system in my life. I have always been able to get the components loose just by twisting and banging.

- Corned beef hash is one of the hardest things to make properly. In SF, the ancient Eagle Cafe, which survived the urban renewal that is Pier 39, makes an excellent one.

- I could never eat a Peep, but I like the chocolate-coconut jellybean egg nests. Among the inedible candies I do like to eat are circus peanuts and candy corn, however.

- I see caponata is essentially ratatouille, which we've made around this place since the Carter administration. Hard to believe canned is tastier than fresh cooked.

- titus' dad probably envies any man who doesn't have to answer to a woman.

- Why lima beans when there are so many beans that taste better: Pintos, black turtles, even kidneys?

- Effort is required to despise W? The worst president since Jimmy Carter -- I posted the reasons yesterday.

- I decided that for America to bridge the racial divide, every white American should marry a black American until there are no single black people left. Then all the little kids will have white grandmothers to compare with their black grandmothers.

I have also noticed that Titus has been ending his posts with Thank You. But I was thinking that I might suggest a different catch phrase.

Whenever I make a joke or passing aside that our homosexual brethren might take the wrong way, I want them to know that I am only kidding so I always add the phrase:

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So when Titus takes us on a tour of his world, he might be taken the wrong way by some of our “straight” brethren who don’t get when he is serious and when he is joking.I don’t think he wants to scare the breeders, so he can just add the phrase:

FLS,Why lima beans when there are so many beans that taste better: Pintos, black turtles, even kidneys?

We were taalking about C-Rations. Food Uncle Sam gave the troops when they were in the field(MREs today) It was all canned food. You ate what you got and if you could not trade for something you did, you either ate it or went hungry. If you got ham and limas you ate ham and limas unless someone else did not like spagetti and meat balls.

mcs -- my question was more of a cry out to the universe, not directed at anyone on this thread. Why lima beans? I think we all can get behind that question. Only Uncle Sam was thoughtless enough or mischievous enough to give them to our fighting men and women.

Caponata v. Ratatouille absolutely entails a distinction with a difference.

Clearly, you have never tasted MY caponata (and I say that with pride, 'cause I'm no inherent eggplant-lover, yet can do up that dish quite well). I can do a mean ratatouille, also, but there are degrees involved, so ... well, I just have to accept that and suck it up.

FLS,Since I am one of those hard core insensitive types, and you have a thing about peeps, I found this for you:

Peep joustingThe messy and largely self-entertaining game, "Peeps Jousting" is played with a microwave oven. One takes two Peeps, and licks the right-hand side of each until sticky. A toothpick is thereby adhered to each Peep, pointing forward like a jousting lance. The Peeps are then set in a microwave, squared off against one another, and heated up. As they expand, the toothpick lances thrust toward each opponent, and the winner is the one that does not pop and deflate (or fizzle and die). Both usually are eaten after the competition, however, regardless who the victor was, calling into question the nature of "winning" in such a circumstance. This folkloric tradition has been noted by the Washington Post. Peeps jousting has also been called such names as "mortal peep fight."

The Smith College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society has been holding an annual spring Peep slaughter since 1981. Peeps are "massacred" in ways ranging from being flushed down the toilet to be given Viking funerals on the campus pond. The practice reportedly began among students at the University of Massachusetts and was brought to Smith at a Passover seder. (WIKI)

BTW, I took Trooper's reminiscences to heart, and we had pizza for Good Friday dinner.

Thank you, Trooper! Great idea!

My youngest had to sing at St. Paul's in Cambridge this afternoon (yes, he's a bona fide full-time choirboy), so none of us were showing up at home before 6:00, and believe me, neither mom nor I were in any shape to cook even mac and cheese.

Now, Trooper, we're sort of white-bread Irish types (I'm actually half-Spanish, but not while in Boston), so we're having the usual ham and scalloped potatoes for Easter. In fact, one of our guests is from Ireland. I'm wondering what you're planning along the lines of an Italian Easter dinner, and if you have any recommendations to enhance our otherwise bland fare.

Theo,Boneless leg of lamb. Find some good pesto sauce. Untie the lamb and slather the pesto all over it. Re-roll it and slather pesto on the outside. Let stand in the ice box overnight. Roast it on Easter sunday. Serve with leftover pesto.

Another good one:Marinade a pork roast overnight in apple juice and Calvados. Line the bottom of a roasting pan with rosemary and sliced apples. Roast it. Reduce the leftover marinade to a syrup consistency. Serve with Rosmary potatoes with butter.

mcs: No, I am no Save-the-Peep activist. I don't eat peeps simply because they are a waste of calories that could be better spent eating chocolate bunnies. They are nasty. If you get one by accident, say, in a gift Easter basket, and you don't want to simply throw it away, put it with your disaster survival rations -- anything tastes good to a starving person.

Oh reader, I am really sorry you'll be alone. You're invited to our house, but I'm afraid Boston may be a bit of a haul for you. And, yes, we're having ham, too, although MCG's pork roast will be tried ASAP. We'll be thinking of you, though, and promise to drink a little toast to you and yours. We'll drink another one to Althouse and the rest of the regulars, whose quality of wit and writing have taken an exponential leap lately, due in no small part to your reappearance, better than ever.

BTW, I'd like to explain the odd reply I made to Althouse about "Lautenschlager" meaning "Lute striker." Here's what I should have said:

Yes, but that's literal. What it really means is "player." We have remnants of the same usage in English is such phrases as, "strike the harp," meaning "play the harp."

In any event I wouldn't fret about it.

The verb "to fret" has an interesting origin that most people are unaware of. Before the 19th century, most fretted instruments, such as lutes and guitars, did not have the familiar little metal bars set into the fingerboard. Frets were usually a double course of heavy gut string tied around the neck of the instrument at the proper points.

But that was the trouble. Frets made this way were not permanent and needed to be repositioned or replaced from time to time. If you played the lute or guitar, which many people did, it was a common problem to have to replace a loose or broken fret. As you can imagine, placing frets in the right positions and have them stay there was a tricky piece of work, so by Shakespeare's time "to fret" had taken on the meaning of worry about something frustrating.

Theo, I would go with the roast pork suggestion of Middle Class Guy. But do it Italian style. Put some olive oil at the bottom of your roasting pan. Slice up some onions and fanook (fennel to you Irishers) and place it in the bottom of the pan. Also add a box of prunes and six peeled and cored apples. Now most people don’t cook fanook, but it is delicious when you strip and clean it and use it in this manner. Put the oven at 375 and cook for about 1 hour. Then add two glasses of white wine, preferable pinot grigio and baste the pork periodically for another 40 minutes or so or until the roast is cooked depending of course on the size and thickness of the cut. If you are really ambitious you can add some butter at the end to give the sauce a little extra flavor. Take out the pork and slice it thin on your slicer. Then serve as a side dish a baked apple, and a medley of the onions, fanook and prunes with the gravy on the side.

Side dishes should include a potato and string bean salad with an olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. A fresh salad of lettuce, red onion, black olives, and ricotta salada cheese. And of course you can have a side dish of pasta for the kids of all ages who don’t think it is a meal without some pasta. Maybe just a simple penne ala vodka. Fresh Italian bread and rolls.

Now for desert you will have the cookies and pastries that your visitors bring. But as a special treat I would make my favorite pears in amaretto. Simple peel, core and halve pears and place them in a lightly buttered pan. Get a box of amaretto cookies and crumble them up. Put the crumbs in the cored center of the half pear. Pour a glass of amaretto over the pears till they are generously coated. Add several pats of butter so it will melt and coat the pears. Put in the oven and cook for approximately 30 minutes. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Then you are done.

That is a very, very nice meal. Both of us cook, but my wife is far beyond my paltry abilities, so she is the one to evaluate recipies. She said it sounds like a great idea, and will do it for my birthday coming up in a week or so.

It's too late to do anything much about this Easter, but the ideas I've gotten here are being filed away for next year.

Thanks Theo. I just got back from Court Pastry where I got the cookies and pastry and the lamb that the professor photographed a few days ago. Then it's mass and a last trip to the bakery for the bruizzata (lard) bread, the olive bread, the old fashioned round wheel and the rolls for the table. Remember the fanook is the key. Get one with a very white root and a green stem and you will be good to go.

I got a great Malbac yesterday that I am going to try on Easter. I will let you know how it tastes.